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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Spring Is Determined

Despite snow shower activity today, lows in the thirties predicted to continue all week, temperatures ten to fifteen degrees below normal predicted to continue through the end of the month, spring is determined to work its magic in the garden.

Late winter is a time of dangly bits. Corylus avellana 'Contorta'

Garrya

Stachyurus praecox

Euphorbia wulfenii

Each walk in the garden offers new surprises at this time of year like these emerging Meconopsis grandis. They've increased over the three years that they've been grown in big pots.

Powerfully fragrant Daphne odora is bursting into bloom.

Despite my accidental digging or placing pots on top of them in the summer, crocus in the beds continue to increase.

Inherited crocus in the lawn have brought delight for nearly 20 springs. Some years the squirrels or some varmint decides to chew the flowers off and leave them lying on the ground. We've lucked out so far this year. Every year I think that the crocus in the beds need to be relocated to the lawn; each year I forget.

Berberis foliage will be popping out soon.

What an exciting time of year. Of course it would be more exciting if it weren't so damned cold! Has spring made itself known in your garden yet?

14 comments:

That Euphorbia is a stunner. All those big shrubs with dangling catkins are things I keep lusting after. I am sure there must be one that is hardy here other than Harry Lauder. One Hellebore up and blooming, three different snowdrop varieties in flower and a couple of other ones poking up, at least a half dozen different woodland peonies have buds pushing up. Warmer today and tomorrow but so windy that I don't think the temps will reach predictions. Very cold overnight lows will keep the action suspended.

It's cold here too. And grey. And wet. I too am sick of winter. Loving your Stachyurus praecox though. I saw one once in a sale. Even at half price it was still expensive so I left it behind. And regretted it ever since.

Haha - gotta love those dangly bits. Not much going on here except for a few Hellebores. The buds are emerging though - which is always nice. As of yesterday, my Euphorbia had one - or maybe two - open blooms, and many more to come. After this winter, I'm grateful (and surprised) it has any at all. :)

Extremely jealous of your Daphne odora, not just for the amazing smell, but it seems to survive the winter without any blemishes. I've had Euphorbia wulfenii for a couple of years now. It's has grown quite abit but the bottom 2/3 of the branches is bare. Is it suppose to be that way? Should I chop it down (after it blooms) so it gets fuller branches again?

Spring is in full swing here in SW England, it is very wet, but this week is going to be warm, so more flowers will open. We are only a few miles from Rusty Duck but she is higher than we are on Dartmoor. Love all your dangly flowers and your crocus.

About Me

Why Outlaw Gardener? I like to break the rules of good taste, plant placement, and plant hardiness. Also, I have received periodic "love notes" from the city code enforcement officer telling me that my parking strip plants encroach on the city's right-of-way. When expressing my distress over the latest such notice, I exclaimed to my pal Loree (Danger Garden) "I'm an outlaw gardener!" To which she replied,"That would be a good name for a blog."
My first gardens were in Southeast Alaska (zone 3.)I do miss the beauty and community of small-town Alaska but I don't take for granted for a moment how wonderful it is to garden in zone 8.